Welcome to the Family
by AniRay
Summary: She was in labor. And she couldn't tell Craig. Or a Craig x Renn oneshot. Written before 4x09


She knew she was in labor twenty minutes after she woke up.

She tried to deny for the next two hours. She had read about Braxton Hicks, she had changed position, walked, drank water. Everything they said to do, she did- but the contractions didn't stop. Instead they got stronger and more regular. The last nail in her coffin of denial.

And she couldn't tell Craig.

He had something going on with Smurf and his brothers. And Renn already knew that he couldn't just blow them off. She wasn't even sure he'd want to. So she had decided to wait him out. To play off the discomfort and fear until he had left. She could drive to the hospital once he was gone. Except that plan went to shit as soon as she walked into the kitchen.

He should have been gone; he was supposed to be at Smurf's ten minutes ago by her watch. But there he was, making toast and eggs. She could smell the decaf that he had bought for her. She hated decaf, but it was the only way she could get coffee so she drank it. He always gave an annoying smirk when she grabbed her cup. And right while she was turning from annoyed to appreciative a contraction hit- hard.

She couldn't hide it. Not the gasp of pain, not the way her hand shot out to brace herself against the doorframe. No, Craig definitely noticed. He was in front of her before she could catch her breath. "Shit, you alright?" Renn looked up at him and blinked. He had been so careful since she got there to not show too much concern. But right now there was nothing stopping her from seeing how worried Craig was about her- about her baby. He scooped her up in his arms and carried her to the sofa. "Stupid question, sorry. What's wrong, though?"

She didn't want to tell. She didn't want him to freak out. Or run. But the words were out of her mouth before she could stop them. She blamed the pain because it was a bitch and it was messing with her head. "I'm in labor." And was that scared little girl voice actually hers? Because what the fuck. Craig froze where he was crouched next to her. She looked away- she didn't want to see whatever look was sure to show up on his face. "It's cool. I'll drive myself to the hospital soon. Go meet Smurf."

"Are you fucking serious? I'm not gonna just leave you here." That was a surprise. The anger in his voice was, too. She looked over at him and, yep, the neutral expression he had been using so often was definitely gone now. "Let me grab my keys," he said as he stood up. "You got a bag or some shit? Cath had a bag when Lena was born."

Renn couldn't speak. She didn't know what to say. So she just nodded towards the hall closet. She had stashed a go bag there a few days ago- just in case. She watched as Craig went and grabbed it, listened as he called Pope and told him that he wasn't gonna be at Smurf's. "Look, something came up. Renn needs me right now. Tell Smurf I'll come by after I'm done." She had never, ever expected to hear Craig tell Smurf 'No'. She hadn't even expected him to tell Pope 'No'. But he had. Because she needed him.

He grabbed his keys off the counter and slung her bag over his shoulder. Then he came back and scooped her up into his arms again. "I can-" her breath hitched as a contraction hit. Craig just raised an eyebrow and kept walking, the smug asshole. "Oh, shut up."

She did not smile when he laughed, okay? She didn't.

* * *

Pope was the first one to show up after Craig texted the family. Then Deran, then J. Adrian came, too. He wasn't sure why. He wasn't sure why any of them had come. It wasn't his kid. Renn wasn't family- not technically. But she wasn't just his friend. So he wasn't mad that they showed up.

He had been chill for the first hour. It was weird how calm he was. But now he could feel his himself getting tense, his nerves were starting to fray a little. He could hear her. He had never heard Renn make sounds like that. It was fucking with his head.

And it didn't help that Pope was sitting like a fucking statue and Deran and cuddled up with Adrian like nothing was wrong. Because something was fucking _wrong_. Renn didn't sound like that. J at least looked a little worried, too. But the kid kept his head down and did homework. So really it was just him freaking the fuck out.

He braced his hands on the doorframe to Renn's room. He kept staring at the fucking door like he'd be able to see through it if he glared long enough. "Sit down, Craig." His head whipped around but Pope was still in the same position. Had he even fucking blinked? "Do you remember how long Cath was in labor with Lena?" No, he didn't. He had been high off his ass that whole fucking week. He barely remembered the first month Lena was alive. "Seventeen hours. She screamed a lot." His brother finally turned to look at him. It made Craig feel better and worse at the same time. "Babies take time. You can't stand for all of it."

Craig turned back to the door. His elbows bent as he rocked forward, then he pushed back and sat next to Pope. "Yeah, okay, man." He tried to sit still. He knew Pope hated how much he fidgeted. But it wasn't happening- and he didn't give a shit if Pope got pissy about it anyway. His fingers tapped the arm of the chair. It was a shitty chair. And his leg bounced up and down. "I would kill for some blow right now." Deran rolled his eyes and gave him an annoyed glare. "What?"

"You aren't even doing anything, Craig."

"Exactly, asshole. If I were doing something then maybe I would feel so fucking stressed." He turned from his brother and looked at J. "Hey, you got anything on you?" The kid shook his head without looking up. _Prick._ Craig didn't even bother to ask Adrian. He didn't need to hear shit from Deran later.

Another scream came from Renn's room.

"Fuck this." He was up and bursting into the room before anyone could stop him. The nurses and doctor all looked up like he was some kind of wild animal or something but he didn't give a shit. His eyes were on Renn. "What the fuck are you doing to her?" The doctor turned back to whatever the hell he was doing that had his face so close to Renn's…space.

"Ms. Randall do we need to call security?"

_Fuck you, asshole._ Renn blinked her eyes open for a minute. She shot Craig a seriously scary glare- like, stupid scary. "No," she said- well it was more like a fucking growl, but he'd take it. "Craig, what the fuck are you doing in here? Get out."

"Yeah, right. You've been screaming for an hour. It's a fucking hospital- don't they have stuff they can give you?" He turned, brows raised, to stare at one of the nurses. She didn't even blink. He turned back to Renn, but she was zoned out. Like, _really_ zoned out. He moved closer to her and grabbed her hand. "Renn?" But she didn't say anything, didn't even look his way.

Then she was gripping his hand so tight he wondered if she might break it. She was strong- always had been- but this was different. Then it clicked. Contraction. So he held her hand tighter and started talking to her. He told her that his brothers and Adrian were there, that J had showed up, too. Promised to make her a cup of real coffee if she didn't break his hand. Then it was over and she was back to glaring at him. But it was softer this time- a little.

She relaxed onto her pillows and took deep breaths. She looked a mess. Her hair was sweaty and stuck to her forehead. Her face was red and blotchy. She wasn't _Hot Renn_. But Craig still thought she looked cute. And he'd totally still bang her if she wanted. She looked down at their hands and winced. Yeah, her nails had dug in pretty deep, but Craig just shrugged it off.

"I would kill for some blow right now," she whispered.

Craig glanced around to make sure no one heard her. He was pretty sure the nurse fiddling with her IV had, though. Her eyes went a little wide for a second before she turned and went to grab something for the doctor. He turned and smiled at Renn. "Well, it's a hospital. I'll make sure to get the guys to raid the place for you before we leave."

_Yeah,_ he thought as she let out a watery laugh, _I'd totally still fuck her._

* * *

_He stayed._

That kept popping into her head. Well, when she wasn't absolutely drowning in how cute her baby was. Two hours of labor at Craig's place, another three at the hospital, and finally her little boy was here. She had never been a baby person- never really even thought about kids. But she loved this little guy so fucking much.

Eight pounds, seven ounces. Twenty-one inches long. Dark hair, brown eyes, and the cutest little nose she had ever seen. Really, her kid was gonna be hot- she could already tell. She looked over and saw Craig. He was standing by the door with the baby in his arms. Pope was next to him and she could hear him telling Craig how to change a diaper and not to let her do too much for the first few days.

It was sweet- she hadn't known Pope cared that much.

Deran and Adrian slid past Pope and Craig and came to stand next to her bed. "So, does the kid have a name?" Renn saw Craig look over at her. He brought the baby back and gave him to her, his hand staying on the baby's head for an extra second. She didn't miss how wide his smile was- how it hadn't dimmed for a second since the baby was born.

"Yeah, he does." She nodded for Pope to come closer. Then she looked down at her little boy. "His name is Logan." Craig let out a huff, but she didn't look. She needed to get this out and she wouldn't if she looked at him. "Logan Cody Randall."

For some reason she looked at Pope first. He was watching her with those fucking intense eyes he had. "Logan's a good name." She watched as he looked down at Logan. He gave a slow nod. "And one more Cody is always a good thing."

Deran let out a quiet 'Fuck', but that was it. Still, he didn't look mad or unhappy. She'd take it. Finally she looked at Craig. His smile was gone. That wasn't a great thing. He wasn't looking at her either- he was just watching Logan. "Craig?" There was that little girl voice again. But it got his attention.

"So, we got another Cody." He leaned down so that his face was right next to the baby's. "As soon as you can walk we're getting you on a surfboard, Little Man." He looked over at Deran- who was already nodding. "And your Uncle Pope is gonna teach you to fight. Maybe J can help you with your math and shit."

Renn rolled her eyes, "I'll teach him to surf, thank you very much." Deran held his hands up in surrender. But Craig just winked at her. "And don't curse in front of him. I don't want his first word to be 'shit'." Craig gently picked Logan up again, holding his close to his chest. It was really way cuter than it should have been. A guy that big shouldn't look that adorable with a baby, but Craig did.

His brothers came and stood on either side of him. Pope held Logan's little hand, and Deran slung an arm over Craig's shoulder before reaching out for her hand with the other. She took it. This was it- this was family. And fuck, it was good.

"Hey, Logan," Craig said, "Welcome to the family."


End file.
